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Penetrating cardiac injuries usually require emergent surgical intervention. Our patient presented to the trauma centre with multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, epigastric region and abdomen. She arrived haemodynamically stable, and her initial Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma exam was negative. Her chest X-ray did not show any evident pneumothorax or haemothorax. Due to her injury pattern, she was taken to the operating room for exploratory laparotomy and neck exploration. Postoperatively, she was taken for CT and found to have a contained cardiac rupture. The injury was contained within previous scar tissue from her prior cardiac surgery. Further evaluation revealed that the injury included a penetrating stab wound to the right ventricle and a traumatic ventricular septal defect (VSD). She subsequently underwent a redo sternotomy with the repair of the penetrating stab wound and the VSD. Cardiology, intensive care, trauma surgery and cardiothoracic surgery coordinated her care from diagnosis, management and recovery. This case highlights the challenges in the management of cardiac injuries and the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to care for complex cardiac injuries., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Vein grafts are the most used conduits in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), even though many studies have suggested their lower patency compared to arterial alternatives. We have reviewed the techniques and technologies that have been investigated over the years with the aim of improving the quality of these conduits. We found that preoperative and postoperative optimal medical therapy and no-touch harvesting techniques have the strongest evidence for optimizing vein graft patency. On the other hand, the use of venous external support, endoscopic harvesting, vein preservation solution and anastomosis, and graft configuration need further investigation. We have also analyzed strategies to treat vein graft failure: when feasible, re-doing the CABG and native vessel primary coronary intervention (PCI) are the best options, followed by percutaneous procedures targeting the failed grafts.

Transfusions are extremely frequent after cardiac surgery, and they have a considerable economic burden and impact on outcomes. Optimal patient blood management could play a fundamental role in reducing the rate of transfusion and Jehovah's Witnesses (JW) represent the ideal surrogate study population. This meta-analysis compares outcomes of JWs and non-JWs' patients undergoing cardiac surgery, assessing the safety of a bloodless cardiac surgery. A scoping review was conducted using a search strategy for studies assessing outcomes of JW undergoing cardiac surgery. The primary outcome was perioperative mortality, and a random-effects meta-analysis was performed. Ten studies were included in our meta-analysis, involving 780 JW patients refusing any type of transfusion ("JW") and 1182 patients accepting transfusion if needed ("non-JW"). 86% of non-JW patients received at least 1 transfusion. There was no significant difference in terms of perioperative mortality (OR 0.91; 95% CI 0.55-1.52; p = 0.72). The volume blood loss was significantly less in the JW (p = 0.001), while the rate of reoperation for bleeding was also lower, but not statistically significative, in the JW (p = 0.16). Both preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin and hematocrit were significantly higher in the JW. Therefore, we concluded that bloodless cardiac surgery is safe and early outcomes are similar between JW and non-JW patients: optimal patient blood management is fundamental in guarantying these results. Further studies are needed to assess if a limitation of transfusion could have a positive long-term impact on outcomes., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: To compare the performance of a novel NeurOs cerebral oximetry monitor against the INVOS monitor during the entire intraoperative phase of cardiac surgery, including periods of known fluctuation in brain oxygenation, such as preoxygenation, induction, cannulation, and cardiopulmonary bypass., Design: This study was a prospective, nonrandomized, healthcare-provider and outcome-assessor blinded study., Setting: Tertiary care university hospital; single institutional study., Participants: Twenty-three patients who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass., Interventions: Both self-adhesive INVOS sensors and the assembled NeurOs sensors were placed accordingly when the patient arrived in the operating room., Measurements and Main Results: Ten out of 13 cases under the normal mode and eight out of the 10 cases under the high- sensitivity mode showed significant correlations between the NeurOs and INVOS groups (p < 0.05, r value from 0.24-0.88). When all cases were combined, NeurOs demonstrated significant correlation with INVOS (r = 0.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.44-0.56, p < 0.01 for normal mode; r = 0.69, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.74, p < 0.01 for high-sensitivity mode) in both modes. To evaluate the data diversity, the authors performed a cluster analysis and found much less variation existed in the NeurOs normal mode when compared with INVOS (standard deviation [SD] 16.6% in INVOS, 4% in NeurOs normal mode) but similar patterns in the high-sensitivity mode (SD 17.6% in INVOS, 15.2% in NeurOs high-sensitivity mode). Bland-Altman plot analysis showed that most of the data fell between ± 1.96 SD lines, which demonstrated good consistency between these two methods under both modes of NeurOs (-28.8 to 30.8 in the normal mode; -36.6 to 32.7 in high-sensitivity mode). In the normal mode of NeurOs monitoring, receiver operating characteristic analysis suggested a 2% cutoff point was most optimal from the baseline for detecting hyperoxia (sensitivity 73%; specificity 66%) and minus 1% (sensitivity 66%; specificity 67%) for detecting hypoxia. Whereas in the high-sensitivity mode, the optimal cutoff point was 3% from baseline for detecting hyperoxia (sensitivity 75%; specificity 68%), and minus 3% for detecting hypoxia (sensitivity 90%; specificity 45%)., Conclusions: In conclusion, the novel NeurOs system was found to correlate with INVOS cerebral oximetry measurements during cardiac surgery., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background . We hypothesize that preoperative functional platelet number (platelet count multiplied by platelet aggregation percentage) are associated with 30-day mortality after cardiac surgery. Methods . We linked our preoperative testing database with the STS (Society of Thoracic Surgeon) database to form a study cohort of 1390 patients who had cardiac surgeries between January 2008 and December 2013. Preoperative tests of platelet count and platelet aggregation were routinely performed on all cardiac surgical patients within 24 hours before entering the operating room. Multiple logistic regression models were used to determine whether functional platelet number are associated with 30-day mortality, modified composite major adverse cardiocerebral events, postoperative renal failure or requirement for new renal replacement therapy, and reoperation for bleeding. Log-linear models were used to examine whether functional platelet numbers are associated with hospital length of stay and intensive care unit length of stay. Results . Functional platelet number had an inverse association with 30-day mortality, and each 50 × 10 9 /L increase in functional platelet number resulted in decreased 30-day mortality (odds ratio of 0.767 with 95% confidence interval = 0.591-0.996). For secondary outcomes, functional platelet number was neither associated with major adverse cardiocerebral event nor length of stay. However, we found that each 50 × 10 9 /L increase in functional platelet number was associated with decreased reoperations for bleeding (odds ratio of 0.778 with 95% confidence interval = 0.636-0.951). Conclusions . The preoperative functional platelet number had significant associations with 30-day mortality after cardiac surgery. Functional platelet number could be used to guide timing of cardiac surgery, especially as more and more patients are receiving antiplatelet medications nowadays.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common post-cardiac surgery complication and influences patient morbidity and prognosis. This study was designed to identify preoperative candidate urine biomarkers in patients undergoing cardiac surgery., Methods: A prospective cohort study of adults undergoing cardiac surgery at increased risk for AKI at a single hospital between July 2010 and September 2012 was performed. The primary outcome was the development of AKI, defined as an absolute serum creatinine (SCr) level increase ≥ 0.5 mg/dL or a ≥ 50% relative increase within 72 h of surgery. A secondary outcome was development of AKI defined by Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO). Urine collected by voiding within 4 h prior to surgery was used for proteomic analysis and confirmatory enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) studies. Biomarkers were tested for AKI-prediction using Cox and Snell R 2 , area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC), and percent of corrected classifications. To evaluate the added effect of each candidate biomarker on AKI discrimination, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were calculated., Results: Forty-seven of 755 patients met screening criteria including 15 with AKI. Proteomic analysis identified 29 proteins with a significant ≥2-fold change. Confirmatory ELISA measurements of five candidate markers showed urinary complement factor B (CFB) and histidine rich glycoprotein (HRG) concentrations were significantly increased in patients with AKI. By multivariate analysis, NRI, and IDI the addition of CFB and HRG to the standard clinical assessment significantly improved risk prediction for the primary outcome. Only HRG was a significant predictor in the 21 patients with AKI defined by KDIGO criteria., Conclusions: Pre-operative urine measurement of CFB or HRG significantly enhanced the current post-surgery AKI risk stratification for more restrictive definition of AKI. HRG, but not CFB or clinical risk stratification, predicted AKI defined by KDIGO. The ability of these biomarkers to predict risk for dialysis-requiring AKI or death could not be reliably assessed in our study due to a small number of patients with either outcome.

Context: Ventricular assist devices (VADs) improve quality of life in advanced heart failure patients, but there are little data exploring psychological symptoms in this population., Objective: This study examined the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and disease over time in VAD patients., Methods: This prospective multicenter cohort study enrolled patients immediately before or after VAD implant and followed them up to 48 weeks. Depression and anxiety were assessed with Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Short Form 8a questionnaires. The panic disorder, acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) modules of the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM were used., Results: Eighty-seven patients were enrolled. After implant, depression and anxiety scores decreased significantly over time (P = 0.03 and P < 0.001, respectively). Two patients met criteria for panic disorder early after implantation, but symptoms resolved over time. None met criteria for ASD or PTSD., Conclusions: Our study suggests VADs do not cause serious psychological harms and may have a positive impact on depression and anxiety. Furthermore, VADs did not induce PTSD, panic disorder, or ASD in this cohort., (Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Preoperative aspirin use within 5 days of cardiac operations is controversial. Aspirin could reduce cardiovascular complications and yet might increase risk of bleeding. Recent reports showed conflicting results, and whether aspirin has variable effects for different cardiac surgical procedures is unclear., Methods: A single-center retrospective cohort analysis was performed. After propensity score matching (PSM) for identified confounders, the relationship between preoperative aspirin use and 30-day all-cause mortality, postoperative renal failure, major adverse cardiocerebral events (MACE), blood transfusion, reoperation for bleeding, and postoperative infection were estimated with separate logistic regression models., Results: Preoperative aspirin therapy was associated with a 49% (p = 0.04) increased risk of reoperation for bleeding among 868 matched pairs of patients undergoing valve operations. Among 725 matched patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), preoperative aspirin therapy was not associated with a statistically significant higher risk of reoperation for bleeding. However, preoperative aspirin use, compared with nonuse, was not associated with risks of MACE, 30-day mortality, postoperative renal failure, blood transfusion, or postoperative infection in the entire cohort, in patients undergoing valve operations only, and in patients undergoing CABG only after PSM., Conclusions: Preoperative aspirin use in all patients undergoing cardiac operations was not associated with risks of major cardiac, cerebral, or renal complications and infections and death; however, the risk of reoperation for bleeding was elevated among preoperative aspirin users compared with nonusers in a subpopulation of patients undergoing valve operations only., (Copyright © 2015 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Cardiac valve procedures are commonly performed concurrently during implantation of left ventricular assist devices, but the added procedural risk has not been studied in detail., Methods and Results: Data from patients receiving the HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device in the ADVANCE bridge to transplant (BTT) trial and continued access protocol were reviewed. Of 382 consecutive patients who completed follow-up between August 2008 and June 2013 (mean time on support 389 days, median 271 days), 262 (68.6%) underwent isolated HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device implantation, 75 (19.6%) a concurrent valve procedure, and 45 (11.8%) concurrent nonvalvular procedures. Of the concurrent valve procedures, 56 were tricuspid, 13 aortic, and 6 mitral. Survival was similar between groups (79% for concurrent valve procedures and 85% for HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device only at 1 year; P=0.33). Concurrent valve procedures were also associated with increased unadjusted early right heart failure (RHF). A multivariable analysis for death and RHF (121 total events) identified female sex (odds ratio=2.0 [95% confidence interval, 1.2-3.3; P=0.0053]) and preimplant tricuspid regurgitation severity (odds ratio=2.9 [95% confidence interval, 1.8-4.8, P<0.0001]) as independent predictors while concurrent tricuspid valve procedures (TVP) were not predictors. Furthermore, patients with significant preimplant tricuspid regurgitation who did not receive a TVP experienced an increased rate of late RHF compared with those who received TVP (0.19 versus 0.05 events per patient-year, respectively; P=0.024)., Conclusions: Compared with HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device alone, survival was equivalent for the concurrent valve procedure group. Tricuspid regurgitation severity was the most important predictor of increased postoperative RHF, and concurrent TVP was not an independent predictor of RHF overall. Concurrent TVP may reduce the rate of late RHF for patients with significant preimplant tricuspid insufficiency., Clinical Trial Registration Url: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00751972., (© 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.)

Ventricular septal rupture (VSR) complicates acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in less than 0.2% of cases and is usually surgically managed by endocardial patch repair with infarct exclusion. Although successful in 80% of cases, failure of patch repair (often because of patch dehiscence) results in attempts at percutaneous closure as reoperative mortality can be as high as 40%. We describe a case of an AMI in a 63-year-old male with resultant VSR that required repeat surgical patch repair secondary to recurrent leak. We discuss the management of recurrent leaks and surgical techniques aimed at decreasing residual defects., (© 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: This Food and Drug Administration-approved investigational device exempt trial assessed the safety and efficacy of a novel device for external left atrial appendage (LAA) exclusion., Description: Delivery tool and implant consisting of connectors imbedded in a compliant, soft silicone applied to the base of the LAA flush with the external wall was assessed., Evaluation: Patients in this prospective, multicenter trial were undergoing elective, nonendoscopic cardiac operations. A core laboratory independently assessed all intraprocedural and 90-day transesophageal echocardiograms. Sixty patients (37 men), aged 33 to 86 years, enrolled. The mean LAA application time was 27 seconds. Transesophageal echocardiograms at 90 days were available in 54 patients, and no leaks were detected. The residual LAA cavity exceeded 6 mm in 5 patients. One delivery device failed to close, and an adjunctive suture was required to complete LAA exclusion. One patient required adjunct sutures at a small tear site related to manual manipulation after fastener application., Conclusions: The study demonstrated safety and efficacy of this LAA exclusion device, offering an alternative to manual suturing or staples with or without reinforcement., (Copyright © 2012 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Platelet adhesion and activation are a significant source of clinical complications. Preventing foreign surface-platelet interaction may improve biocompatibility of implantable medical devices. This study evaluated efficacy of novel technique for electrically modifying surface of conductive biomaterial and attaching blood components to prevent thrombogenesis. Specifically, this new surface modification technology, Forcefield (ATS Medical, Inc, Minneapolis, Minn), was designed to prevent platelet adhesion on pyrolytic carbon. A modulated low-voltage current is directly applied to pyrolytic carbon surfaces to stimulate adherence of a layer of charged proteins from circulating blood components that is resistive to platelet deposition., Methods: Feasibility of Forcefield technology was tested in line with cardiopulmonary bypass circuit in patients undergoing standard cardiac surgery (n = 6). Forcefield treatment was applied to segment of pyrolytic carbon with 15 minutes (n = 3) and 30 minutes (n = 3) of electrically stimulated exposure time, and resulting segments were compared with untreated pyrolytic carbon segment. Platelet adhesion confluence was then quantified by scanning electron microscopy., Results: Confluence of the Forcefield-treated pyrolytic carbon segments (3.3% ± 2.2%) was significantly reduced relative to untreated pyrolytic carbon control segments (81.7% ± 24%, P < .001). There were no discernible differences in cell confluence with Forcefield-treated segments as function of exposure time (15 or 30 minutes)., Conclusions: Forcefield technology may enable modification of pyrolytic carbon surfaces to prevent platelet adhesion and thrombogenesis of implanted medical devices, including heart valves, stents, catheters, and ventricular assist devices, and may eliminate the need for anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapies., (Copyright © 2011 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The use of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) as an alternative to transplant, or destination therapy (end of life support), is an increasingly important option for patients with end-stage heart failure. Prior studies have examined hospital costs for LVAD implants performed during investigational studies (e.g., REMATCH), but none has been published since that trial was completed., Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 23 consecutive patients who had a HeartMate XVE pump implanted as destination therapy at 2 high-volume ventricular assist device implant centers after US Food and Drug Administration approval in October 2003. We evaluated survival to discharge during the implantation hospitalization, hospital length of stay, and hospital costs, and compared them with outcomes reported from the REMATCH (RM) trial., Results: All patients in this cohort implanted post-REMATCH (PRM) had class IV heart failure and were similar in age, gender, and nearly all other pre-implantation clinical measures to the RM subjects. Mean hospital costs for PRM patients were 40% lower than for RM patients when measured from implantation to discharge (dollar 128,084 vs dollar 210,187, p < 0.01). PRM patients who survived implantation hospitalization had 48% lower costs than those who did not survive (dollar 114,979 vs dollar 215,456, p < 0.01), a finding similar to the RM experience. PRM patients in this cohort were more likely to survive to discharge compared with RM patients (87.0% vs 67.3%, p = 0.09). Mean hospital length of stay was 25% lower in the PRM group (44 vs 33 days) but did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.50)., Conclusions: Outcomes with use of LVADs as destination therapy have improved in the post-REMATCH era, including significantly lower hospital costs as well as strong trends toward better survival to hospital discharge and shorter average length of stay.

Purpose: Evaluate the feasibility and clinical significance of crystalloid prime reduction during the initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) using a modified bridge on the cardioplegia delivery system., Methods: Prospective trial of crystalloid prime reduction using a standard Duraflow-coated CPB circuit and Vanguard 2:1 cardio plegia delivery system. Standard prime volume was 1500 cc of Plasmalyte. Prime was reduced via the bridge in the cardioplegia system during initiation of CPB. Packed red blood cells (PRBC) were transfused for hematocrit (Hct) less than 24% while rewarming. A hemoconcentrator was used if the patient's circulating blood volume exceeded 150% of calculated. All data were prospectively collected., Results: Two hundred and twenty-two consecutive patients undergoing cardiac surgery utilizing CPB were evaluated. There were 107 patients with normal prime volume (NPV) and 115 patients with reduced prime volume (RPV). There was no significant difference in sex, mean age, weight, body surface area (BSA), pre-op Hct, procedure time or procedure between the two groups. There was no difference in total crystalloids infused by the anesthetists (average NPV 1205 cc versus RPV 1148 cc). The average RPV was 622 cc (range 400-1100 cc) or a 59% reduction. Post-op Hct revealed no difference (NPV 28% versus RPV 29%). There was a 24% reduction in patients requiring PRBC (NPV n=23 versus RPV n=18). The use of hemoconcentrators was reduced by 49% (NPV n=18 versus RPV n =11). The average urine output for both groups exceeded 100 cc/hour while on CPB., Conclusion: Using a modified cardioplegia delivery system is a safe and effective method of CPB prime reduction. A RPV resulted in fewer patients requiring PRBC transfusions and fewer hemoconcentrators used. Based on our experience, we would recommend attempting to reduce prime volume in all patients undergoing CPB.

Background: Particulate emboli are thought to play a significant role in the development of cardiac surgical complications. Intraaortic filtration of particulate emboli may reduce the burden of this morbidity in cardiac patients., Methods: A multiinstitutional randomized trial was designed and enrolled 1,289 patients at 22 centers. Six hundred forty-five patients were assigned to the treatment arm and received the Embol-X intraaortic filter, whereas 644 patients were assigned to the control arm. The endpoints examined were mortality, stroke, transient ischemic attack, renal insufficiency/failure, myocardial infarction, gastrointestinal complications, and limb-threatening ischemia. All filters were examined for histologic evidence of particulate emboli., Results: Particulate emboli were identified in 598 (96.8%) of 618 filters successfully deployed. Composite event rates for the clinical endpoints were similar in both the filtered and nonfiltered arm (110/645 = 17% vs 122/644 = 19%, respectively). Individual event rates were also similar in both arms. A post hoc comparison of patients with moderate or greater preoperative risk scores demonstrated event reduction favoring the filtered group for renal complications (17/124 = 14% vs 28/117 = 24%, p = 0.04) and for the composite endpoint (30/124 = 24% vs 42/117 = 36%, p = 0.047). No clinically evident complications attributed to the use of the filter were identified., Conclusions: The use of the Embol-X intraaortic filter is both safe and effective, as demonstrated by the emboli capture rate of 97%. In addition, post hoc analysis indicates a reduction in postoperative renal complications for patients with moderate or greater preoperative risk. Further study of high-risk patients is warranted.

The author reflects on the differing conclusions of studies about using a meta-analysis of radial artery versus saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) in a coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in the U.S. He mentions the use of the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) and right internal thoracic artery (RITA) for the revascularization of the circumflex system. He also notes the potential risk for increased complications in the sternum but improvements in surgical techniques have addressed such issues.